Bank Street College "Best Children's Books of the Year," 2023 Edition

"Dance the Hora, Isado­ra is an exhil­a­rat­ing, dance-filled tale that will leave any read­er eager to fly around a large, open space, syn­chro­niz­ing with oth­ers to a live­ly tune." – Helen Weiss Pincus, Jewish Book Council

Young Isadora loves dance but doesn't feel she has a special one to share in class like the other students. That all changes when she and her grandmother attend her cousin Rachel's wedding, and Isadora learns the hora.

Prizes

Short-listed for Best Children's Books 2023 (United States)

Dance the Hora, Isado­ra is an exhil­a­rat­ing, dance-filled tale that will leave any read­er eager to fly around a large, open space, syn­chro­niz­ing with oth­ers to a live­ly tune.

At a buoy­ant fam­i­ly wed­ding, Isado­ra, with the help of her spry grand­ma, embraces the hora, a clas­sic Jew­ish dance. Enthu­si­as­tic, she brings the cir­cle dance to her beloved dance class and intro­duces it to her dance teacher and the oth­er students.

With appeal­ing pas­tel and flo­ral illus­tra­tions and an exu­ber­ant sto­ry, Dance the Hora, Isado­ra is a joy­ous and delight­ful book — so much so that it is rec­om­mend­ed to wear danc­ing shoes while reading.

--Helen Weiss Pincus, Jewish Book Council

Dance the Hora, Isadora is a joyful book that captures the delight of dancing the hora at a Jewish wedding. Isadora is a spunky little girl who takes ballet classes. At the end of each class, the students can share a favorite dance. Isadora doesn’t have a special dance of her own, but her grandma tells her that she will have one soon. Isadora knows that her grandma is referring to Cousin Rachel’s wedding, which they’ll both be attending on Sunday.
At the wedding celebration, when the band starts playing Hava Nagila, Grandma makes a space for herself and Isadora in the dance circle. With no time to learn the hora, Isadora is swept along with the others—and so is the reader thanks to the lively language describing the music and dancing. The illustrations exude laughter and joy and make the wedding come alive. Later Grandma teaches Isadora the steps, so she is able to share the hora with her ballet friends.
Isadora has a grand time at the wedding. As the flower girl, she gets to stand under the chuppah. Other Jewish wedding rituals and customs are shown, too. We see the groom smash the glass and the bride and groom lifted up in chairs, all through the eyes of a little girl who witnesses this jubilation for the first time.
The book ends with a "Note to Families" which expands a little more on the Jewish content, making this delightfully engaging book a good candidate for the Sydney Taylor Book Award.
Whether the child reader has already been to such a wonderful celebration or not, they’ll be glad they were invited to this wedding!

--Arlene Schenker, The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Gloria Koster worked for many years as a school librarian. She is the author of multiple books for children including Little Red Ruthie, A Hanukkah Tale, and Mitzi's Mitzvah. She lives in Manhattan and Pound Ridge, NY.